Brian Giordano, who lives in Raleigh, was on that flight. Despite hearing the sounds and seeing smoke, he said the scariest moments came when the pilots got on the intercom.

"It was a little scary because they prepped us for a crash," said Giordano.

A photo from thousands of feet in the sky showed a propeller on engine number two perfectly still.

"There was a pop on the right side of the plane and the engine and the prop stopped then there was a fire and the plane shifted a little bit and dropped, but the pilot had it under control," said Giordano.

United Express Flight #4882 was diverted from Raleigh to Newark. All passengers have been evacuated and no injuries have been reported.